Refuge des Granges de Holle - Cirque de Gavarnie -Refuge des Espuguettes - Gavarnie
- Distance: 14km
- Duration: (with breaks): 6h 30min
- Elevation gain/loss: 850m/970m
Today I’m diverting from GR10 and instead of hiking towards Luz, I headed to Gavarnie from which my plan was to cross to the Spanish side of the Pyrenees. Plans are meant to be broken though and I didn’t make it to Spain. Day 3 was actually the most stressful of the whole Pyrenees trip. So what happened?
On day 2, the evening ended with a storm approaching, but our valley was miraculously spared. We “only” had a spectacular lightning show from all around us, which I decided to skip and bury myself inside a sleeping bag instead. I didn’t want the lightning to raise my anxiety and bother my sleep, so I just tried to ignore it and get some rest. Which worked out rather well as I had a decent second night in a tent. Getting used to it. I think the proximity to the refuge (15m) helped a lot.
As I was passing Gavarnie, today was my only chance to do some gear shopping before heading into the mountains again. After a charging cable mishap on day 1, I badly needed a proper cable.
After the storm threats of yesterday, I also wanted to get extra pegs for my tent. For some mysterious reason Big Agnes does not provide all the pegs that are possible to use with all the ropes when securing the tent, so I also wanted to cover myself on that end. Gladly, Gavarnie has some outdoor shops and I managed to successfully buy all the stuff. I even did some food shopping.
Fully loaded on food, cables, and tent pegs, I was ready for another great hike. My first stop was Gavarnie Falls, the second-highest waterfall in Europe (422m). The walk there is quite flat and busy. Looooooots of people go there (Gavarnie is a busy mountain village) and an easy trail ensures a very varied crowd.
I get it, it is definitely a grand place. The whole area is called Cirque de Gavarnie as it is a sort of amphitheater-like valley with a wall of mountains and spectacular waterfalls dropping from them. It also features La Brèche de Roland (Roland’s Pass) which looks like a huge gap neatly carved out of a mountain top.
I took a short rest admiring these views but did not linger in the area too long. I was craving for some peace and quiet 😄 As for most of the fellow hikers the Gavarnie Falls is the final destination for the day, I knew that by heading up I’ll get rid of the crowds.
My route was leading towards Refuge des Espuguettes, meaning that I was kind of walking back towards Gavarnie, just this time I moved higher on the hills.
Early at noon, I reached the refuge and took a break in a shade, hiding from again a fierce sun. That’s also where my long debate with myself began.
My first doubt was whether I want to climb to the Spanish side. My guide book mentioned a section of scrambling and a steep descent, which, while reading at home, did not sound that scary. However, since the start of the trip, my mindset has changed. I was no longer craving for technical trails and bigger physical challenges. I didn’t feel like I need to prove anything to anyone, I just wanted to enjoy the trip. Besides, being on my own made me more responsible towards myself and this section didn’t sound that safe. I just didn’t have a good feeling about it.
So I decided to not go to Spanish Pyrenees and instead to get back to GR10. Today is a detour day and I’ll wild camp in the vicinity of the refuge, before walking back to GR10. Or will I?… I soon started doubting about the location for tonight as it was rather windy and exposed and the refuge was not that nearby. I still didn’t feel fine about wild camping fully on my own. All those doubts led to a decision to descend to Gavarnie and camp on a campsite there instead.
At noon I thought I’m done and here I was, at 14:00 heading back to Gavarnie. I felt pretty good about my decision. In fact, I felt relieved and just enjoyed the panorama around me. I’ll camp in Gavarnie and tomorrow find the trail back to GR10.
At Gavarnie, instead of directly walking to the campsite (~15min walk), I called them and found out that the campsite is full. How can that be? No place for one little tent?… I never had that before. Since the phone signal in the town was very weak and I had no internet, I decided to ask for advice at the tourist information center.
There, I got the phone number of another campsite in a nearby town. When I called them, the receptionist didn’t speak much English and the phone signal was again weak, so the call was a little disaster with the receptionist abruptly ending it when I tried to ask if there was a place. At this point it’s late afternoon, I’m in Gavarnie with barely any phone signal and no place to sleep. Panic kicked in.
I tried calling my boyfriend so he could find any available hotel for me (since I had no internet), but after a few successful seconds of conversation, the signal was gone. At this point, my emotions took the upper hand and I just sat on the stairs and cried. I felt so lonely and tired and done with everything. I just wanted someone to take care of me, I was tired of having nobody to share my burdens with.
A few sad minutes later I composed myself and decided to get back to the tourist information center. I think the employees saw how distressed I was as I tried to explain in a trembling voice that I don’t know where to sleep tonight, that I can’t speak French, that the campsites I contacted are booked. They both calmed me down and firmly assured me: “We’ll find you a place to sleep for tonight, don’t you worry about that!”. Those words brought another rush of tears, just this time with a smile. Someone is taking care of me 😊
After a few calls, a campsite in Luz, a village nearby, said yes to me and soon I was sitting in a bus towards Luz. The campsite manager told me that I took the second-last (!!!) spot. Apparently August is the very peak of French holidays where even factories are on vacation, so I just witnessed how busy it can be during the peak. I certainly didn’t expect that a single person with a tent will struggle to find a place.
As I settled my tent, rain clouds covered the valley and the weather decided to match my mood. It started raining. But I couldn’t be more bothered. I was relieved to have a place to sleep, a place where I felt comfortable to sleep. What a day.
Day 3 tips
- Book a campsite in advance in this area, all the villages around Gavarnie are busy 😊
- Gavarnie is not reliable in terms of internet or phone signal. You might have it for one minute and then lose it, so don’t count on it.